You May Feel Strange, But You Are An Angel
by hpnerd121
Summary: Highschool AU. When Castiel discovers that the new boy, Dean Winchester, can see his supposedly incorporeal wings, they become fast friends. Can Dean help Cas overcome his social anxiety? Will probably end up being Destiel.
1. Chapter 1

Castiel Novak laced up his boots slowly. One could hardly blame him for being reluctant, what with it being the first day of school and all. Standing up, he walked slowly into the bathroom, deliberately making each step a careful one. He stalled for a few more minutes, making silly faces in the mirror, before carefully brushing each and every tooth. He had just about scrubbed them down to nubs when his older brother, Gabriel, called up the stairs, threatening to leave without him. He made one more face before carefully composing his features into a state of blankness. He grabbed his backpack and thump-ed his way down the stairs, deliberately making each step heavy. Gabriel smiled sympathetically at the averse teen before smacking him towards the door and the dark blue Jetta (Lovingly dubbed Chuck by Gabriel) waiting outside. Cas scowled excessively and ruffled his wings indignantly when he spotted the bright red hair of his younger sister Anna in the shotgun seat.

Although incorporeal to all but his siblings, his wings were a resplendent shade of black, edged with light brown. They were prickling with dread at the impending school building. Although a rather drab shade of brown, the brick building still managed to be imposing, looming over the block like a prison. And it seemed to Castiel that every eye in the schoolyard turned and stared at Chuck accusingly, although in reality the plain car drew the attention of few. Anna flitted out and darted over to a group of new freshmen, determined to make new friends, while Cas lingered in the car, avoiding his peers. Finally the impatient noises from his brother forced him out. Still, he hung around Chuck, hiding in the collar of his oversized trenchcoat, even as Gabe was enveloped by his rambunctious friends. When the first bell rang, Cas was at his locker, carefully placing notebooks that smelled of plastic inside. He almost seemed to be trying to crawl inside, to hide with the neatly aligned books until the end of the day. However, he sighed and firmly closed the door before heading off to his first class.

Even though there were still several minutes before the start of class, Cas was sitting neatly in his desk with his notebook open and a pencil waiting. He gazed into space for several minutes before a prickle alerted him to the stare of the boy sitting behind him. He simply rearranged his wings to hide from the boy's gaze. Although they were invisible to all but himself, it helped him sit without cringing externally. The faint but audible gasp emitted from the boy disconcerted him, and he was tempted to look around and look at the owner of the stare. So he employed a sneaky trick, taking out his phone and pretending to check the time while actually sneaking a peek at the reflection of the guy.

He had light brown hair and his nose was sprinkled with freckles. He was also surprisingly attractive, although unfamiliar to Cas. He was clearly new to the school, and was currently staring at the empty air over Cas's shoulder, directly at his right wing. The lucrative idea that he might be staring at Cas's wing never occurred to him; it's simply impossible. Cas winced almost imperceptibly away from his stare, breaking him out of his apparent trance. For one horrible, cringing moment, their eyes met in the reflection from Cas's phone. Luckily, the next second the bell drones, giving Cas an excuse to tuck his phone in his pocket and turn his attention to the teacher. As the teacher talked about New Beginnings and Expectations For The Class, Cas mentally wiped metaphorical sweat from his brow. Saved by the bell, he thought, one side of his mouth quirking up in a small smile.

Then comes the part he dreaded the most of all- Now Lets All Introduce Ourselves, With A Name And Silly Fact. When it came to Cas's turn, he wrapped his wings around himself, but not even their soft touch calmed him down. He felt himself on the verge of a panic attack as he said curtly "Castiel. First Period English." This got a few quiet laughs as he sat down to a flood of relief. He focused so hard on calming his breathing that he almost missed when his admirer stood up and cockily stated. "Dean. Super attractive." Although it's true, Cas still felt aversion to the overconfidence of Dean. Then they went on to write down the rules of the classroom, expectations for homework, etc, etc. Cas carefully wrote down every word, focusing a little too intensely on the retesting policy.

Finally, the bell rung, and Cas doesn't bother putting away his notebook and pencil before darting out of the classroom. He made a brief detour to his locker before heading off to his second period, arriving several minutes before the bell, which he spent carefully labeling his binder in accordance to the instructions on the board. Thankfully, the teacher doesn't make socialization mandatory, giving them a stupid exercise involving conversations with their classmates. Cas filled his out with vague answers that could apply to anyone, and spent the rest of class sketching out the mystery boy, from what he could see in his brief glance. Dean's face was frustrating to say the least, and although Cas was an excellent artist he couldn't quite get the nose right.

The rest of the class periods passed in similar ways, and by lunch Cas was quite frustrated with reintroducing himself, especially when Dean was in his fifth period class, science. The teacher drawled his words, but was actually quite amusing, telling them stories of stupid students. Cas didn't hear a word, as he was too busy drawing Dean to pay attention. It was rather risky to doodle on the first day, but Dean's nose was just too intriguing to ignore and this time, Cas is the one staring. Dean seemed to have decided that he was hallucinating whatever was so fascinating about Castiel, although he still did a double take when Cas strode in.

When Dean started packing up before the bell, Cas had a funny feeling that he would try to corner him during lunch. The instant the bell rang he was across the room, once again not bothering to pack his things. He felt rather like a spy as he ducked around corners and hid in crowds on the way to his locker. He allowed himself to indulge in the silly fantasy, even pressing against the wall when he spotted Dean with a group of jocks. Cas can't help but notice the boy looking around carefully, even as he guffawed with his buffoon friends. Finally Cas made it to his locker, removing his lunch and sketchpad before heading to the library like always. He avoids the cafeteria like the plague and keeps a careful lookout for Dean as he walks over to the Library.

He sat down in the same spot as last year, awkwardly nodding to the librarian as he turned on his music and opened up the book. Carefully selecting a pencil from his case, he started to draw, carefully shading in Dean's jaw. Someone walked by him, at the stage in the drawing that it's clear that it's Dean that he's drawing. In a flash, he turned to a different page, acting on an instinct that turns out correct when that person sits across from him. Cas froze, his lungs seized by debilitating terror as he heard a voice underlying his music. He switched off Moldy Peaches and removed his headphones, finally looking up and into the too-green eyes of Dean Winchester.

* * *

Sooo...

Yeah. First Supernatural Fic. Do the thing please.

Thanks for reading! :3


	2. Chapter 2

Cas met Dean's eyes for a second, less, before looking down at his sketchbook. It was open to a detailed drawing of wings, Castiel's own, in dark ink. Dean stared at it for a second before offering his hand.

"Hello. I'm Dean." Still avoiding his eyes, Cas shook his hand. "Castiel." Dean leaned forward and asked earnestly "Cas, are you an angel?" Unfortunately, Cas was taking a sip of water, trying to evade those eyes, and choked, almost spitting up water onto his book. Dean snatched it out of harm's way, clearly not expecting such a dramatic reaction. The librarian started to shoot the pair a dirty look, but her stare softened when she saw that Cas was finally making friends, albeit noisy ones.

"What?" Cas finally gasped, eyes watering. Dean suddenly looked intensely embarrassed. "Forget it." He said dismissively, throwing the book back on the table, but Cas grabbed his arm before he could leave. Shocked at his own boldness, he asked "Why do you say that?" Dean was suddenly the awkward one.

"I-uh- I dunno." Cas tightens his grip and looks him in the eye, his intense gaze compelling him to tell the truth. His wings flared slightly, drawing Dean's gaze. Shocked, Cas's wings flailed, and Dean flinched away, although they sail right through him. Cas's ears seemed to ring as he sat there, trying to process this enigma. Dean slowly sat down, but Cas didn't move. His brow crinkled as he sat there for a few minutes before suddenly leaping up and grabbing Dean. The other boy jumped as Cas hastily grabbed his things, dragging him outside to a secluded area on campus.

"You can see them?" He hissed, his face a little too close to Deans. "Why? How?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned and ran toward the cafeteria, leaving Dean to pant after his wildly flapping trenchcoat. Cas valiantly stepped up onto an empty table just outside the cafeteria, scanning the chattering students. He spotted his sister and jumped down with his wings held out for balance, ignoring the stares and giggles of his peers for once. Dean, who had only just caught up, was once again forced to chase after him as he ran across the courtyard, dodging students who were eating on the lawn. He finally skidded to a halt in front of Anna and her new friends. The red-head looked up at him in surprise as Dean stopped behind him.

"Cas? What are you-"

"Anna. I need to talk to you." She stood up, picking her way around the bags on the lawn and following Cas back to the library wall, looking curiously at Dean. Once they were out of earshot, Cas shot out a wing and whipped it at Dean's face. He flinched away, quite effectively revealing the situation to Anna.

"Oh my god. Can you see mine too?" She asked, pulling out her own white wings. Dean nodded uncertainly before bursting out

"Okay, what the hell is going on? I've only been here for two days and I already met two angels-" Both Cas and Anna shushed him violently, but Dean was on a roll "-and no one will tell me what the HELL is going on!"

"Dean." Cas said quietly. "I will explain everything, I promise, but not here. Meet me after school and we'll discuss it." Dean begrudgingly agreed as the bell rang and the trio was forced to separate. Luckily, Dean was in Cas's seventh period shop class. For the first time, Cas actually participated in the introduction activities, although it was only with Dean, and he still had to push past the instinct to flinch away.

"Hello Dean." He said quietly. Dean, who was laughing with a different boy, turned and grinned. "Heya Cas. Say, Do You Have Any Pets?" He asked ironically, flapping the assignment paper. The buffoon beside him sniggered, making Cas flinch slightly. Dean turned serious and gave Cas a concerned look, which the teen shrugged off. Dean only looked for a moment longer before turning back to his friend and cracking some stupid joke about the only cheerleader in the class. Cas excused himself and walked slowly down the hall, stretching first one wing, then the other as he headed to the water fountain. The water was unnaturally cold and tasted like jealousy.

After school, Dean left the room before Castiel, leaving him to walk to his locker alone. He can't help but fear that Dean had forgotten all about him and his wings, or that he had decided that Cas was too lame, too ugly- No, that's ridiculous, Cas scolded himself. Absolute Nonsense. It was at this point that he realized that he had been standing in front of his locker for five minutes, staring at nothing. He shook himself and walked out to the parking lot in front of the school. As he exited the building, he saw Dean looking around slightly nervously, clearly wondering where Cas was. Although he felt a rush of relief, Cas still had to force himself to walk over and greet Dean.

"Hello Dean," He said, walking up behind him. Dean jumped.

"Geeze, you shouldn't sneak up on a guy like that." He laughed nervously.

"Apologies. Follow me, my brother's car is that way." Cas gestured vaguely towards Chuck, where Gabriel was standing with his buddies.

"Woah, He has..."

"Four, I know." Gabriel's four wings were an especial source of pride for him, a constant bragging point, and usually extremely irritating. "Don't say anything."

"What, is he self-conscious or something?" Dean smirked cockily.

"The opposite actually. He's insufferable. But that isn't of import. Come on." Cas walked across the parking lot, ahead of the taller boy. When they reached the car, Gabe turned and saw Dean, and his face split in a huge grin.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Have a little playdate Cassie?" Cas's face pinkened just slightly.

"No, Gabe. Actually, Dean can-" He paused, looking at Gabriel's friends. He knew that he would never hear the end of it if he said something strange. "Nevermind. Yes, I have a little 'Playdate', as you would say." This sent Gabriel and his friends howling, causing Dean to send them dirty looks as Cas looked at his feet.

"Don't be rude Cassie, introduce me to your little friend. " Gabriel condescendingly reprimanded. Cas looked slightly disgruntled, although he still did not show very much emotion.

"Gabriel, this is Dean. Dean, this is Gabriel, my older brother."

"And this is Chuck, short for Charlotte," Gabriel finished, lovingly patting his blue car.

"Can we go now?" Cas asked as Anna trotted up and nodded at Dean as a way of greeting. "Ah, don't be that way, Cassie," Gabriel reached over and tried to ruffle his hair, but Dean stepped in front of Cas to protect him.

"Hey, back off," He said forcefully. Gabe just smirked and climbed into the driver's seat. Cas touched Dean's shoulder lightly.

"I appreciate it Dean, but I don't need your protection. Gabriel was just messing around." Dean turned red and looked over to the other end of the parking lot.

"Yeah, well, he shouldn't be so mean. Come on." He climbed into the back, and Cas felt a flash of irritation when he saw that Anna had taken the passenger seat again. As he sat next to Dean, he ruffled his wings huffily.

"What is it?" Dean asked. Cas followed his eyes to his grumpy wings.

"Nothing. Something stupid." Anna looked over her shoulder at Cas and smiled angelically.

"You don't mind that I took the front seat, do you Castiel?" Cas didn't say anything, but his wings bristled in protest. He took the high road and ignored Anna's jab, instead turning to Dean and asking

"Won't your parents be worried?" Dean shook his head.

"Nah, my car's messed up, so they picked Sam up already. I texted them and told them not to come get me." Cas looked down at his fingers and awkwardly said "Oh."

Dean clumsily tried to change the subject, determined not to let an uncomfortable silence develop.

"I saw your drawing. It was really good." For a second, Cas felt a flash of fear that Dean meant the drawing of himself, until he said "Were those yours?" Cas was incredibly confused for a second, until he realized that Dean was talking about the wings he had etched out. "Oh, yeah, they were." Gabe raised his eyebrows at the pair in the rearview mirror. "What exactly are you two talking about? Did Cas show you naughty pictures? " Anna whacked him upside the head as Cas drew his wings around his shoulders. "No." he said petulantly. "He was talking about my drawing of my wings. He can see them, you know." Gabriel laughed nervously. "Oh, right your wings. Of course."

"No, Gabe, he actually can see them." Anna clarified. "That wasn't a joke."

"WHAT? How is that possible?" He studied Dean in the mirror, nearly swerving into oncoming traffic, until the teen became uncomfortable and said peevishly

"Hey, keep your eyes on the road." That stopped the staring but not the freaking out.

"Okay, that was not supposed to happen. When we get home I'm calling Michael."

Immediately Castiel objected. "No, Gabriel, you don't have to do that. Don't bother Michael." Gabe pulled into the driveway and killed the engine, looking at Cas seriously for once.

"Cas, you don't understand. This wasn't supposed to happen." Dean furrowed his brow.

"Wait, what do you mean-"

"Dean, it's nothing. Come on." Cas climbed out of the car and headed towards the massive, and ancient, house. Dean stared at everything inside, hoping to get some insight in this strange family. The first thing he noticed was that there was very little decoration anywhere, and anything decorative was usually broken, such as a lamp held together with copious amounts of glue. When Gabe twirled like a discus thrower and hurdled his backpack into the corner, he realized why. There was also a great deal of religious decoration, although these were mostly untouched. Those that were damaged were carefully repaired. One thing that struck Dean as kind of odd was the lack of family photos.

"Dean. Dean." Dean stopped staring at a crooked cross and met Cas's eyes for a moment before the blue flicked away from the green. "I was just wondering if you were hungry."_ Jeeze his voice is deep._

"Um, yeah, I guess so. I didn't really eat lunch." Cas lead the way to the kitchen, where a radio was softly playing pop music on the windowsill. He pulled out a bag of chips and made a questioning noise. Dean smiled approvingly, and was gratified to see Cas's wings perk up.

"Okay, seriously dude. What's with the flappers?" Cas looked confused and almost panicked, causing Dean to clarify his sentence. "I mean your wings. You need to get out of that Gatsby mindset, dude."

"oh." Cas said softly "Um, well, what do you want to know?"

"Well first of all, why you have them?" Dean inquired as he followed Cas up to his room.

"I don't actually know. I have a feeling that Gabriel and Michael do, but they won't tell me."

"What, you aren't curious?" Dean inquired.

"Of course I am. But they won't tell me, and I just stopped asking." Cas stated blandly.

"Dude, this is a pretty big part of your life. Don't you think you have the right to know?" Dean scoffed. He seemed unable to grasp the idea.

"Not if they don't tell me. Here we are." Cas opened the door to his spotless room. Dean studied the place, hoping to glean what he could about Cas, but didn't get much.

"Who's Michael?" He asked, noting the art supplies on the desk and the floor and the worn bible on the bedside table. A few pieces of artwork were tacked to the wall, most done by Cas and filled with symbolism that flew over Dean's head.

"He's my older brother. " Cas sat on the floor and dug into the chips, gesturing to Dean to sit next to him. "He's going to college a few hours away. He doesn't often drop by." Dean joined him on the floor, crunching on the chips as he stared at a picture of Gabriel, Castiel, and Michael visiting Venice. Gabriel was holding a lit firecracker, and seemed seconds from dropping it onto a boat passing underneath with two lovers on it. Anna was presumably taking the picture, while Michael was reaching out to grab Gabriel, or perhaps push him into the canal, and Castiel was ignoring the whole scene, studying a bridge. Dean smiled slightly at the sight and asked his next question.

"Can you fly?" This time, there was a pause, and Dean turned his gaze on Cas to find the teen staring at him. Looking away, the boy asked

"Why? Do you wish to fly with me?" Dean looked away as well.

"Nah, I don't like flying much." After another second, while he finished his mouthful of chips, Cas said

"Yeah, I can." Dean let out a shakily let out a breath, causing Cas to ask cautiously "Is- is that a problem?"

"No, it's just a lot to take in." Just then, Gabriel burst in to Cas's room.

"Sorry to interrupt your little slumber party, but Michael's just arrived."

* * *

Omg you all are so nice. Thank you for following and don't forget to tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Cas looked panicked as he scrambled up and tossed the bag of chips under the bed, straightening up moments before Michael strode in.

"Castiel. How are you." Michael asked, clearly not expecting an answer. He had dark hair, like Cas, that was neatly combed. He was the shortest person in the room, but had a presence that intimidated Dean. He, too, stood up, a little too late, and offered a hand.

"Hello, my name is Dean." Michael took his hand and looked at him in a way that seemed like he was looking below the surface and at Dean's soul.

"Hello. I am Michael, Castiel's brother." He squinted his eyes at Dean, making him shift uncomfortably. Like Gabriel, he had four wings, although his were gold rather than the brown of Gabriel's. He noticed Dean's look and rearranged them slightly.

"Interesting." He said quietly. Dean noticed him exchange a look with Gabriel, and tried to catch Cas's eye to convey this. Unfortunately, Cas was staunchly ignoring the peculiar interaction and avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you." Michael left the room, followed by Gabriel, who was acting out of character and being peculiarly quiet. Dean waited a few minutes, listening to them go downstairs, before bursting out

"Seriously? That was it?"

"Dean, please be quiet," Cas pleaded, but Dean would not be placated.

"No. No. All that buildup, and this is what happens? Bullshit." Cas just sighed and pulled the chips out from under his bed, settling down on its neatly made surface with a creak and taking a handful of food. He ate them sadly, his wings slumped across the bed. Dean settled next to him and ate some as well.

"Dean, I'm sorry." Dean fell across the bed and sighed, staring at the ceiling.

"It's not your fault." Dean closed his eyes and heard the bed creak as Cas lay down next to him.

"I know. It's still disappointing. I... I suppose you want to leave now." Dean opened his eyes and looked over at Cas in confusion.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Well... you got what you came for. Why would you want to stay any longer?" Dean laughed. "Why wouldn't I? You may be a little strange, but you're still cool. I want to get to know you, especially because I don't have any friends yet."

"Dean, what about those jocks? You were hanging out with them earlier." Dean sighed and closed his eyes again.

"Those guys are jerks. I don't like them anyway. You're much cooler." Dean smiled over at Cas, who hesitantly smiled back, meeting his eyes for longer than a second this time. Then, Cas broke the stare and awkwardly asked,

"So, what do you want to do?" There was a substantial silence before Cas hesitantly said

"Do you want to go to the lake?"

The lake was a few minutes away from Cas's neighborhood. It was attached to a lovely green park, with a path that went around it. There was a playground full of laughing children, and a dock that was cool where it went over the mossy green depths. Dean had never been, but Cas had often gone in the summer to read or go swimming. The walk over was pretty awkward, until Cas asked about where Dean had lived previously.

"Oh, I lived in Kansas. It was a small town, but then our house burned down and my mom insisted that we move here. " After that, Cas just asked questions about Dean, content to just walk under the green glow of the trees and listen to him talk. As they got close to the park, they could hear the shouts of children and the sloshing sounds of the lake. Cas led the way to the dock, which was thankfully empty. He sat down at the end, patting the spot next to him for Dean to sit down. Cas unlaced his boots and pulled his socks off, dipping his toes in the cool lake water. Dean followed suit, pulling off his leather boots with worn laces and revealing bright green socks. Cas chuckled at the sight.

"I like your socks." He teased. Dean pretended to be offended, saying

"You shut up," but he smiled to himself and kicked his toes into the water as well. For a few minutes they were quiet, but then Cas asked quietly

"Would you rather have a person-sized pea or a pea-sized person?" This cracked Dean up. He laughed for such a long time that Cas started to wonder if he could breathe. He was just on the verge of thumping Dean on the back when he recovered and asked, still gasping, with tears in his eyes,

"What the hell Cas?" Cas looked down shamefacedly.

"I just remembered... Gabriel said it was a good icebreaker." This set Dean off again, although he stopped much quicker and said

"Well, consider it broken." Dean wheezed for another second and then said

"I would rather have a pea sized person. They could fit in your hood and whisper answers to you during tests."

"Assuming that they would be a smart pea sized person." Cas added.

"Yes, assuming that they would be smart. Okay, would you rather... um... be pushed in the lake right now or go and climb the tallest tree in the park?" Cas answered immediately.

"I would climb the tallest tree. I am not afraid of hights." Dean started standing up, putting his shoes back on. When Cas looked at him incomprehensibly, Dean explained

"You're gonna go and climb that tree over there," he pointed over to a tree that was clearly the tallest.

"Alright. But you have to climb it too." Cas challenged.

"Done." Dean smirked, "but you're going first."

The pair headed over to the tree, and Cas circled the trunk for a second, surveying the tree, before seizing the lowest branch and swinging himself up. He took his time climbing to the top, finding the easiest path up. His trenchcoat swung as he got higher and higher. As the branches got thinner, he was forced to go even slower, carefully testing each branch. Still, he kept his wings tucked tightly against his back, never once unfairly using them for balance. Finally, he wrapped his hand around the very top of the tree, snapping off a twig by accident. He dropped it on Dean's head, who was craning his neck to see Cas way up in the tree.

"Hey!" He cried, but he was still smiling as Cas came down, much more quickly than he had come up. Very soon, his boots crunched on the ground, and he turned to Dean.

"Your turn." He simply said. Smirking, Dean climbed up the tree much quicker than Cas had. He was about halfway up the tree when a branch cracked with an ominous noise like a shot. Dean fell for a few feet, snapping branches and grasping wildly to grab at leaves. Suddenly Cas was there with a rush of wind like the flap of wings, and he wrapped his hand around Dean's outstretched hand. The angel helped Dean maneuver into a more stable position, propped up against the trunk. They both sat there for a second, until Dean stopped shaking and looked at Cas, really looked at him, not just his wings, but at his face.

He was scruffy in every sense of the word, with a patchy shave and uncombed hair. His eyes though, were the bluest blue. He was actually making eye contact, and Dean couldn't look away. They were like the ocean and the sky and neptune and every blue combined, like deep whirlpools that snagged you and would never let go. Then Cas blinked and Dean blinked and they both looked away.

"You shouldn't've done that. What if someone saw you?" Dean said, although without much conviction. As an answer, Cas grabbed his wrist and flapped his wings again, forcing Dean's eyes closed. He felt himself land on solid ground and stumbled, opening his eyes to find himself in Cas's room again.

"Woah, a little warning next time?" But the snarky words were kind of ruined by his breathlessness. Cas coughed awkwardly.

"Apologies," he said stiffly. Dean cocked his head curiously.

"What's the matter?" Dean was surprised to see the other teen shift uncomfortably.

"I've just never flown with anyone else. Not under my own power, anyway. I have flown with Gabriel before." He changed his weight again. "It's getting late," He said pointedly. Dean chewed his lip before reluctantly agreeing and heading downstairs. Cas followed him to the door, asking worriedly

"Are you going to be okay going home?" Dean smiled

"Yeah, I think I can manage it."

"Okay, well then...see you tomorrow?" Cas said hesitantly, not really sure of the convention. He felt relieved when Dean smiled again.

"Yeah, definitely. Bye, Cas." He turned and walked away, leaving Cas rooted with the shivers of Dean saying his name.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Cas wasn't nearly so reluctant to get in the car. He practically skipped downstairs, or the Cas version of that, which was still enough to catch Anna's attention. She smiled knowingly at him as she swung her hair and got into the back seat, leaving shotgun to Cas. Gabriel said nothing about Dean, or the day before. He just drove along, singing Smooth Criminal along with the radio. Cas smiled to himself as the school emerged over the hill. He was actually looking forward to school, because the social aspect was looking a little more bearable. He actually did enjoy learning, although he was usually too busy freaking out about every little movement to enjoy the joy of mastering a skill. When they pulled into the lot, he was first out, even before Anna. She was hard on his heels as he hurried to his locker. Once he went inside the building, he slowed, and his doubts sunk their claws into him. He felt his every limb weighed down with the worry that perhaps Dean wouldn't be excited to see him, perhaps-

(perhaps he had imagined-)

There was no time to worry, he had to get to class, but Cas worried anyway, his face betraying none of the turmoil inside. When he walked in, he hesitated in the entryway, momentarily unable to walk inside. When Dean saw him, he smiled and patted the desk next to him. Cas hurried over- am I going too fast? - with a rush of relief. He sat down and smiled at Dean, who started complaining about the lack of breakfast food in his house, not knowing the effect his inclusion had on Cas. When class started, Cas smiled at his paper as he wrote down some biography facts, paying less attention to his handwriting than usual. It was still very neat, but not consciously so. Although this gesture was very small, it revealed Cas's comfort and happiness more than his expressions. When Dean glanced over, not paying attention, and saw that Cas's wings were loose and relaxed, he smiled too. When Cas glanced over and caught his eye, he smiled even wider, even after Cas turned his attention back to the teacher. Dean doodled idly on the edge of his page, which was blank but for the title, written down when the teacher walked by. He drew little wings all along the side, little cartoon angels and birds. They didn't compare to Cas's drawings, but they still kept him distracted and made it look as though he was writing down anything the teacher said.

When class ended, Cas took his time packing up his things, talking with Dean about the merits of one breakfast cereal in relation to others.

"I personally like Honey Nut Cheerios. They have a delightful crunch," Said Castiel truthfully. For some reason, Dean found this hilarious, and was still laughing when he bid Cas goodbye at the door of his Spanish class. Cas, still smiling, headed off to French.

They met up again in fifth period science. Cas turned to the first page in his binder, saw his attempts at drawing Dean from the previous day, and quickly flipped to the next page. Unfortunately, Dean was seated across the room, but when the teacher announced that they could choose their lab partners for the lab of the week, Cas and Dean met up. Dean just felt dumb in his plastic safety goggles, but Cas actually looked like a scientist, with his long coat and steady hands. He carefully measured out the chemicals, not noticing Dean's gaze, while Dean basked in the novelty of having a lab partner that actually knew what he was doing. Cas glanced away from his experiment and caught Dean looking at him. Hurriedly, Cas looked back to his chemicals, while Dean wrote down the numbers he called out on a sloppily copied out data table.

While Dean was washing out the beakers, a jock came up and started trying to talk about 'the game' and how good it was. Dean didn't know what sport he was even talking about, so he made up some waffle about not getting the channel, even though he was just watching Doctor Sexy on the night of 'the game'. The large teen walked away in disappointment, as Dean dried the beaker and walked back to Cas, who was packing his bag.

They walked to lunch together, with Cas talking about his favorite movies, and Dean denouncing them as lame.

"Clockwork Orange? Are you serious?" Cas looked at him reprimendingly.

"Dean, have you ever actually seen it?" Dean said sheepishly

"Well...No. But seriously dude, we've got to watch Batman together." Cas glanced over at him with the faintest ghost of a smile.

"Really Dean? You want to watch movies with me?"

"Hell yeah!" Dean said forcefully, right as they walked past a teacher. "Uh- I mean- how about those cosines?" The math teacher chuckled as he went by, giving Dean a warning look.

"Anyway, as long as you don't mind me talking the whole time, I think it'd be fun!" Cas stopped suddenly, catching Dean by surprise, who walked another few feet before looking back at his friend.

"What's up?" He asked. Cas looked around in confusion.

"Where should we sit?" Dean looked around again. All of the tables were taken, and a great deal of the lawn was as well. He spotted Anna flicking her hair around, and a group of jocks all chowing on sandwiches stuffed with meat and protein shakes.

"Um... What about over here?" Dean turned to find Cas several yards away, gesturing at a secluded patch of sunny grass with a tree.

"Looks great," Dean said, and without further ado, plopped down on the grass and opened his lunch bag.

"Oh, damn. I grabbed the wrong lunch," Dean complained. He pulled out a half of a sandwich, a juicebox, a bag of cheetos, and a cookie. As he turned the bag upside down, fruitlessly looking for more food, a piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Cas picked it up, reading it outloud.

"To Sam: Have a nice day! Love, Mom." Dean expected relentless teasing, but Cas just handed the paper back to him and said

"Your mom sounds nice." Accepting the scrap, Dean said

"Uh, yeah, she's pretty great. So, do you want to go to the park again after school? I mean, if you're not doing anything else."

"I would like that very much, Dean," Cas said seriously.

"Um, yeah...my car's fixed, so we can take that, but we'll have to bring Sam. He can just do his own thing though." Dean smiled at him through a huge bite of sandwich.

After school, Dean led the way to the parking lot, stopping at a Chevy Impala. Even Cas, who knew next to nothing about cars, was impressed.

"This is your car?" He asked. Dean grinned and patted his car fondly.

"Yeah. A beauty, isn't she?" He swung into the car, followed by his friend. As the engine rumbles to life, loud rock music blasts out of the speakers. Dean turned it down slightly, but sung along as they drove with all the windows open. It was a beautiful day, and as the trees rushed by and Dean sung along to Stairway to Heaven, Cas smiled slightly to himself. Dean turned the music down when the pulled into the parking lot of the Middle School, but still tapped his hand on the steering wheel as Sam ran out and climbed into the back.

"Who's this?" Sam asked curiously, buckling himself in. Cas felt the familiar squeeze at introductions in his chest, but Dean just said

"Cas," in a way that invited no questions. Sam settled back in his seat, clearly not pleased with this answer, but knowing that it was fruitless to argue.

"Where are we going?" He asked petulantly. Dean turned left and said

"The park. You like parks, right?"

"I have to do my homework, Dean." Sam whined.

"Sammy, it's the second day of school. How much homework do you have?" Sam sniffed haughtily and said "Don't call me Sammy." Dean pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off.

"How about I push you on the swings?" Dean tried to compromise. Sam contemplated this for a few seconds, then relented and hopped out of the car.

"Sorry, Cas, but I gotta go push him." Dean scowled as he climbed out of the car, but his expression softened when he saw Sam petting a golden retriever. Cas reached into his black bag and pulled out his sketchbook and pencils.

Dean pushed Sam on the swing, and Cas sketched the scene while sitting at a picnic table. The curve of Dean's leg as he leans forward, the strain in Sam as he strives toward the sky, the smiles on both of their faces.

Cas became so absorbed in the folds on Dean's leather jacket that he didn't notice when Dean left Sam to his own devices and came over to see what Cas was doing.

"Wow, that's really good," Dean said as soon as Cas took his pencil off the page, making him jump.

"Oh, yes, well-" Cas was flustered as he hastily closed the book and put his pencil away. "I, uh, just wanted to practice." Dean touched him lightly on the shoulder as he sat down next to the angel.

"Well, I thought it was amazing." Cas smiled at him, when all of a sudden a rock whipped across his cheek, leaving a cut.

"Loser," Sneered the bully who had thrown the rock, seconds before Sam shoved him over. He was surprisingly strong for a little kid, mused Cas, as Sam fought the bully and his friends. Dean jumped up and ran over to the struggling kid, socking the last one standing right in the jaw. Dean looked Sam over for injuries, not expecting to find any, before hurrying back to Cas.

"Your cheek..." Dean said, running his thumb over the small cut. "It's so...bright." Cas's eyebrows contracted, and he studied Dean as though seeing him for the first time.

"You can see my grace?" Cas asked. This made him feel much more exposed than Dean seeing his wings, and made him want to cover his face. And yet, part of him wanted more than anything to have Dean keep touching him .


	5. Chapter 5

**Omg you guys must hate me**

**I'm so sorry that I've taken so long!**

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Sam pulled a bandaid out of his bag anded handed it to Dean.

"Thank God you're so paranoid, huh Sammy?" Dean teased as he sat Cas down on the hood of his car.

"Well prepared," Sam corrected, smiling slightly as Dean carefully put the bandage over the cut on Cas's cheek. Cas leaned into Dean's hand, almost involuntarily, as Dean smoothed down the bandaid.

"Faggots!" Came the shout from across the field. Dean jumped away from Cas as though he was burned and glared across the field at the jocks who were snickering amoung themselves.

"Don't make me kick your ass!" He bellowed back. Cas gently touched his elbow.

"Don't let them get to you, Dean," He said gently.

"Get to me? Get to me? They didn't get to me. I'd like to see them try to get to me." Dean pouted, causing Sam and Cas to laugh. They were interupted by Dean's phone ringing. Grateful to avoid the teasing that was sure to follow such a silly statement by the supposedly 'tough' teen, Dean picked up and strolled away from Cas and Sam, who were now exchanging ridiculus knock-knock jokes. (By exchanging, he meant that Sam was telling Cas silly knock-knock jokes, and Cas was completely missing the joke every time.)

"Hey Mom," Dean said, watching Sam and Cas with a smile.

"Knock-Knock."

"Who's there?" Cas had finally mastered the technique, not just saying 'Why are you knocking, there isn't even a door,' or 'Come in, Sam.'

"Dean, it's getting late. Where are you and Sam?" The voice over the phone asked.

"Interuppting Cow." Sam said, already grinning at the joke.

"We're still at the park," Dean replied.

"Interuppt-" Cas began, only to be interuppted by Sam shouting

"MOO!" He cracked up, cackling at his own joke.

"Well, time to come home. It's almost dinner time."

Dean talked over Cas (Sam, that was rude). "Okay, I just have to drop Cas off first."

"Why not invite him over for dinner?" (No, Cas, that's the joke!)

"I don't think Cas- Well, he doesn't like meeting people very much." Dean dropped his voice, although Cas seemed engrossed with arguing with Sam.

"I don't understand. You are not a cow." This made Sam convulse with laughter, and even Dean had to stifle a chuckle at Cas's expression.

"But I want to meet him." Dean sighed, knowing that she would get her way somehow.

"Okay, I'll invite him, but don't be surprised if he seems nervous. Bye Mom!" Dean hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Hey Cas, Mom wants to know if you would like to join us for dinner." Dean asked. Cas looked slightly panicked, although it was impossible to tell without looking at the way his wings curved protectively about him. Dean said gently

"Cas, you don't have to if you don't want to." Cas drew himself up and widened the spread of his wings, looking more determined than frightened now.

"I would love to come to dinner," He said confidently, or as confidently as he could manage. Dean was impressed, and, heaving himself off the hood of his car, opened the door for Cas, mockingly gesturing grandly to pass it off as a joke. Cas climbed in, smiling slightly at Dean's joke. He held his wings out for balance as he got into the car. Dean closed the door and hopped over the hood to the driver's side. Sam climbed in as well. Cas noticed the army man wedged into the cupholder and the line of his wings softened slightly. However, both his wings and his shoulders got increasingly tense as they approached Dean's house. By the time they pulled into the Winchester's driveway, Dean was worried that Cas's big, feathery wings would float right off his shoulders. He touched his hand gently, and saw some of the tension leave Cas. Then, they followed Sam inside, with Dean's shoulder bumping against Cas's with every other step.

Dean's father was reading a newspaper on the couch when they stepped inside. He barely glanced up as he said

"Hello, boys. Friend of yours, Dean?" Dean noticed Cas's wings pressing against him so tightly he was amazed the teen could breathe.

"Yes, sir. This is Cas." Dean glanced at Cas, wondering how he would react to the formality of his relationship with his father, but Cas seemed too preoccupied to wonder about anything like that.

Besides, Dean reasoned, He acted the same way around Michael. Dean's father nodded absently, already absorbed into his newspaper.

"Nice to meet you. You're mother's in the kitchen, please go and help her." Dean nodded, quietly telling Sam to go ahead and start on his work before leading Cas to the kitchen. His mother was cooking in the cozy room, tossing onions in a pan.

"Oh, hello, dear, I didn't hear you come in," She said, without looking around. She finished stirring and turned, holding out a hand to Castiel.

"You must be Cas," She said kindly, with a warm smile. Dean looked over at his new friend just to see his wings release slightly as he held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," He said, without a change in his expression. Dean was worried at his mother's reaction to this, but she mearly smiled and went back to stirring the pot of pasta.

"Do you need any help?" Dean asked, before silence could settle. Mrs. Winchester smiled gratefully at her teenage boy.

"Yes, please, dear, could you set the table please?" Dean went over to a cabinet and pulled plates out. Cas reached over and tried to take them, but Dean spun around with surprising grace before he could touch them.

"No, Cas." He said firmly. "You are a guest. You just stand there and look pretty, and I'll set the table," Cas protested at this, but from his wings, he was relaxed with the banter.

"Dean, I want to help. I can't just eat your food and enjoy your hospitality without helping with the chores!"

"Oh, yes you can," Dean growled, striding out of the kitchen with an armful of plates, forks, and cups. Cas turned to Mrs. Winchester, his wings tensing up again. Still, he managed to ask polietly

"Is there anything I can help with?" Mary was smiling as she turned around and handed him the spoon she was stirring with.

"Could you stir the sauce while I make the salad, please?" Cas smiled ever so slightly and took the spoon. When Dean came back in the kitchen, he found Cas happily stirring soup while his mother tossed vegetables together. Dean smiled gently at the happy scene before disappearing into the fridge in search of dressing.

When all the food had come together, and the table was set, John was called in from the other room and Sam was called down from his bedroom. Together, the Winchesters plus Cas sat down for dinner.

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Remember to do the thing! And if you have any questions, just PM me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Remember****, If you have any questions, just ask me!**

**Enjoy! :D**

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Cas carefully took some hamburger stroganoff and asparagus as the Winchesters asked how school was. Just when Cas thought that he might be able to get through dinner without incident, Mary turned to him and asked him how he met Dean.

"Oh, I um..." Cas pleaded with Dean silently, and he stepped in with

"We met in shop class." As Mary went on about how wonderful it was that Dean was making friends, they shared a relieved glance. As Cas carefully ate and remarked about how tasty it was, he put himself outside of his body, where he was dancing along to a song that had gotten caught in his mind at some point in the past week. Unbeknownst to him, his wings bobbed to the beat of the song, and caught Dean's eye. He repressed his smile and concerned himself with scarfing down carrots. He mopped up the last of his sauce with one and ate it with a satisfied noise. Cas, on the other hand, carefully cut up all of his vegetables and ate them gently. He smiled pleasantly and answered questions as best he could, but Dean could tell that this was just a mask, and that he was really elsewhere, even without looking at his faintly twitching wings.

When dinner was finally finished, Dean and Cas started to do dishes, but Mary waved them off and made Sam and even John do the dishes. When Dean and Cas left, they were having a surprisingly civil conversation about the combat in a movie that they had watched recently. Dean mounted the stairs three at a time, with Cas following closely after. Dean walked past three closed doors in a hallway (One with a messy sign that read "Sam Winchester") before stopping before the last one. He opened it a crack, and poked his head inside. Looking over his shoulder, he said

"Sorry, I've just got to clean up a bit." Cas just looked at him as he slipped through the smallest possible crack in the door and shut it. He studied the pictures on the walls and smiled slightly at the pictures hung up on the walls. He jumped when Dean opened his bedroom door and gestured him in. He followed Dean back in to his relatively clean room. He looked at the guns that were hung on the wall. From his extensive reading, he could guess as to which guns they were, but had no idea why they were there.

"That's, um, some interesting decoration." Dean grinned.

"Shut up, dude. Guns are cool." Cas smiled slightly to himself, looking around Dean's room.

There was a desk, obviously, in the corner. On the metal surface, a silver laptop slumbered peacefully. There were a few pictures on the walls, mostly of classic bands. His room was painted a lovely blue color, and there was a television in the corner, with wires poking out of a gaming console. Dean flopped onto the bed (Neatly made with dark green covers) and reached for a remote on his bedside table. He clicked a button at a sleek black box, which lit up and started playing rock music quietly.

"Do you want to play video games?" Dean asked the ceiling. Cas was busy studying a shotgun shell that he had found on the ground. It was odd, finding something like that under the bed. When Dean asked him that, he started.

"Yeah, sure," he answered, discreetly slipping the shell into the pocket of his trenchcoat. Dean sat up and slid off the bed to turn on his console.

"Any preferences?" Dean asked, passing a controller to Cas. He shook his head as he accepted the controller, still mulling over the metal cylinder resting in his pocket.

Cas was absolutely horrendous. When Dean found out that he had never played before, he gasped in mock horror.

"How is that possible?" He asked, shooting Cas's character again.

"I don't know. I never thought it was important." Dean actually turned around and looked seriously at Cas.

"Okay, we're gonna play video games together. Okay? You'll be, like, my protegee. My gaming tutor-ee," Dean smiled radiantly, turning back into the game just in time to miss Cas's wings perking up and a small smile curling across his face. Dean was hammering at his controller, clattering the buttons. Cas looked up from his controller just in time to watch his character go limp again.

"Come on, Cas! You have to at least try!" Cas slowly caught on, managing to walk around without spinning. He managed to catch Dean hurtling towards him with a knife, and actually managed to get off a few shots off before he was killed. Dean laughed, a wonderful and rich sound that made Cas smile lightly to himself

They played for about an hour, when Dean suddenly looked outside and saw how dark it had gotten.

"Oh, crap, it's late." Cas scowled regretfully.

"Yeah, I should probably be getting home." He stood up and brushed off his long coat. Dean awkwardly got up as well and asked

"Well, do you need a ride, or...?" Cas answered a little too quickly.

"No, it's fine. I can just fly home." Dean's face fell, and Cas realized his mistake. "But... Gabe doesn't really like it when I fly, so if it's no trouble..." Dean nodded and grabbed his keys from the table, feeling incredibly pleased when he saw Cas's wings perk up.

They both got into the car and Dean put on a song with a beat. He started dancing a little in his seat, and glanced over at Cas. Although he wasn't moving, his wings were twitching along to the beat. Dean continued dancing as he returned his gaze to the road, and started to lip sync along, hoping to get a reaction from Cas. When the boy in the passenger seat smiled slightly, Dean grinned and turned up the music. Dean saw that Cas's torso was moving slightly along with his wings, and he started laughing. Cas chuckled quietly as Dean sung out loud with great gusto. When they finally arrived at Cas's house, Dean was laughing so hard he was almost crying. Cas was smiling widely, more at ease than he had been since Dean met him. When Dean put the car in park, he threw his head back, his laughter shaking his shoulders. The song faded out, and Dean finally got a hold of himself, gulping in huge breathes. Cas glanced at him sideways, smiling as well, although slightly confused as to why Dean was laughing so hard. Eventually, Dean stopped rumbling with little giggles, and clapped Cas on the shoulder.

"Man, it's been a long time since I laughed that hard. See you tomorrow, man." Cas smiled hesitantly and was pleased to receive a huge smile in return. He climbed out of the car and walked up to the front door, watching Dean drive away intently.

He turned and walked to the door, but paused when he heard loud voices arguing. He tensed up and reached for a knife, which was odd, because he didn't carry a knife. However, his posture relaxed slightly when he recognized the voices to be those of Gabriel and Anna. Still, he opened the door cautiously, and shut it quietly behind him. The room seemed artificial after the dusk outside, but Anna seemed vivid as she shouted at Gabriel.

"You never tell me anything! I deserve-" She whipped around and saw Cas, immediately dragging him into the fight. "And Cas too! You and Michael have all those secrets, but we're part of this family too!" Gabriel was serious as it was possible to be for him.

"Anna, there are some things I can't tell you. Sorry, I don't make the rules." Anna turned and demanded of Cas

"Don't we deserve to know?" Cas spent a few minutes thinking about this. He thought of Dean saying _"Aren't you curious?"_. He thought of all the times he felt lonely and like a freak. He thought of the years without friends.

"Yes," He said, quietly, but firmly. Gabriel was frankly shocked.

"What? Cassie, I thought you were on my side!" Cas flicked his eyes up, suddenly menacing.

"I'm on my own side. And stop calling me Cassie." After dropping this bombshell, Cas pushed past his brother and went up to his room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow. I literally have no excuse. I am extremely sorry. Thank you to everyone who's reading this story!**

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Cas set his jaw forward and threw the hacky sack into the air again. He was lying on his back on his bed with his wings spread out slightly next to him. He expertly caught it and threw it into the air again. Catching it again, he clicked to the next song on his ipod and looked up just in time to see Gabe opening the door. Sighing, he discarded the ball and pulled out his headphones. His older brother sighed and ran his hand through his hair, strangely serious.

"Cas, I'm sorry. I can't tell you what you want to know. I'll get in trouble with the man upstairs, if you know what I mean." Cas wasn't really sure what that meant, but figured it was either an obscure reference or some weird way of saying that he couldn't do it morally. Cas resisted the urge to scowl and just sighed.

"Yeah, it's fine. Whatever." He said, the classic moody teenager. Pulling his wings closer to his sides, he threw the hacky sack into the air again. Gabriel reached out and caught it in the air, smiling weakly. Cas really rolled his eyes at the feeble joke, but still smiled slightly. Gabriel dropped the ball on his chest and smiled at his younger brother, ruffling his hair.

By the next day, Cas had gotten over the fight with Gabe and had moved on to over-analyzing everything about his interactions with Dean and his family. Anna, however, was still angry, and deigned to sit huffily in the back seat and say nothing to Gabriel at all. She seemed to be overly friendly to Cas though, probably much appreciating his help the previous night. By the time they reached the school, both Cas and Gabe were quite glad to be rid of the extremely awkward atmosphere in the car. Cas pretty much ran out of the car, with his wings trailing behind him. Once he was far enough away to almost forget the atmosphere in the automobile, he took a moment to adjust his backpack and rearrange his wings into a more comfortable position. He let his eyes wander across the courtyard as he walked to the building, and was pleased to see Dean standing around. He had headphones in and was sipping a massive coffee from a popular chain store. Cas altered his course to walk over to him. Dean glanced around and noticed Cas walking towards him. His face split into a grin and he raised a hand in greeting, pulling out his headphones as Cas walked towards him.

"Hey Cas!" He said with surprising cheerfulness, considering how early it was. He offered out the coffee, asking

"Wanna sip?" Cas took a quiet sip, and his wings flared out. He coughed slightly as he handed it back.

"How much sugar do you have in that?" He asked, working his tongue around in his mouth. Dean got distracted slightly, hyperfocusing on Cas's pink lips for a few seconds before shaking himself minutely and answering cheerfully

"About five packets." He gave Cas a brilliant smile before taking another deep drink of his coffee. Cas shook his head, but he was smiling slightly.

"Do you drink coffee like that everyday?" Cas asked. Dean shrugged and offered another drink, which Cas denied.

"When I have time, yeah. We should go sometime."

"I don't care for coffee." Dean turned and looked genuinely shocked.

"Clearly, you haven't had the right kind of coffee. The trick is, you want it to taste like a milkshake. You want none of the taste but all of the caffeine." They continued their conversation until the warning bell rang and they both headed to class, still enjoying a lively conversation about the various merits of different kinds of coffee.

"Yeah, frappuccinos are great, but in the morning? It's nowhere near hot enough to want iced over hot." Dean folded his arms, satisfied with his argument. He certainly isn't expecting Cas to retort

"But what if you don't like hot beverages? Or if your tongue or teeth hurt? The ice can sooth more so than hot coffee." Just as Dean opened his mouth to reply, the bell rang, signalling the start of class. He shut his mouth and turned his attention to the teacher standing expectantly at the front of the classroom.

"Right class, today we're starting to study Macbeth, written by the great bard himself." Amidst the groans resonating from her students, the teacher added "But we're going to be watching most of the play. Shakespeare's plays are a very visual media, and it's just not the same reading them. As we start the movie, I want you to pay attention to the following themes..." Dean drummed his pencil against his leg as he idly listened to the teacher talk about Macbeth. When someone passed out the project for the unit, he read it as quickly as possible and had to contain his groan. Write about a theme? Screw that. He started to draw little knives stabbing people along the side of the rubric, adding gratuitous amounts of blood to properly symbolize his feelings about the project. He looked over at Cas just in time to see the amount of work it was going to take hit him. He looked to his book of the play, then back at the sheet, and his wings slumped. Still, he started dutifully underlining the important parts of the project, just like a good little student. Dean was impressed, he'd never really realized that Castiel was a very good student before. He just kindof assumed that most people had troubles at school like him. Cas glanced over and saw Dean gazing absent-mindedly at him. His wings took on a questioning sort of look and Dean smiled and looked away in a hurry. As he continued not doing the work he was supposed to, he thought about how difficult it would be to know what Cas was thinking without looking at his wings. It would probably take years, he thought, absently giving the stabber wings to make him look like an avenging angel. He wondered how many friends Cas had. Clearly not any at school, as Dean was the only one he seemed to talk to. Dean made a mental note to never ask him anything that had to do with friends.

Just then, his phone buzzed quietly in his pocket. He very carefully pulled it out of his pocket. The message was from his father.

_Wendigo a few towns over. Will be back late._ Dean scrupulously texted him back. _Can I come along?_ The reply was quick and expected._ No. Stay in school._ Dean sighed slightly and slid the phone back into his pocket, tapping his pencil against his leg again. Cas gave him a curious look, but he ignored it and grumpily stuffed the paper into his binder as the bell rang. Determined not to give Cas a chance to ask him about the texts, Dean griped

"Can you believe that project? That's gonna suck." Castiel agreed quietly, and Dean was relieved that he let it slide."You don't have any special powers that can make me smarter, do you?" Cas looked at him blankly.

"You're going to have to pray to Anabiel for that." The reference flew over Dean's head, but luckily he said goodbye to Cas before there was a chance to think up a reaction. Dean's next class was study hall, and he quickly finished the review sheet that was due in math that day. He immediately went to a computer and looked up Anabiel.

The angel invoked to cure stupidity... Dean nearly laughed out loud when he read that. Excellent joke, although really obscure. Curious, he looked up "Castiel", which sounded old-fashioned.

The angel of Thursday... Dean wasn't surprised that the name was one of an angel. He spent the rest of the class period looking up Cas's siblings- both Gabriel and Michael were angel names as well. However, he couldn't find any angels named Anna, which struck him as odd.

The next period, in Math class, Dean got in trouble for mouthing off the teacher.

"It's not his fault he doesn't know!" He said loudly when the teacher started bullying one of the students who couldn't answer. A hush fell over the classroom. No one, and I mean no one, could mouth off to Mr. Crowley and get away with it. Sure enough, the cruel teacher slowly turned and gave Dean the stink eye.

"Mr. Winchester," He began in his crisp accent. The whole class shrank down in their seats, but Dean stood up straight and met Mr. Crowley's eyes. "I'm the teacher here, and it is up to me how I run my class. If I choose to assign four hours of homework, I can. If I choose to discipline students, I can." There was a pause, during which no one seemed to breathe. Dean debated the two courses of action. He could apologize and sit down, keep his head down for the rest of class, and escape unscathed. Or-

"You're just a bloated, bullying fascist who can't teach worth a damn!" Dean said loudly. He wasn't quite shouting, but Mr. Crowley looked enraged and a little satisfied.

"Detention, Winchester! In the library, after school, today. And if I hear another word out of you for the rest of the semester, you'll never see sunshine again!" Dean sat down, fuming, as the teacher turned to the board and forcefully wrote a long equation.

"Solve this, and I had better not hear a peep from anyone!"

When Cas heard the news, he was duly shocked.

"Dean, you can't just say that to a teacher," He muttered as they wrote their paragraphs.

"I don't regret it," Dean said forcefully, earning a dirty glare from the girl a desk over. He lowered his voice. "He can't just bully students and get away with it."

"Actually, he can," Castiel said, "He's a teacher." Dean frowned and looked down at the long equation he was solving. He couldn't shake the feeling he was doing it all wrong. Sighing, he erased his work yet again. "I got detention," He said moodily. Cas gave him a look. Dean sighed again.

"Sorry we can't hang out today." Cas smiled slightly at him.

"That's okay Dean."

When Cas swung into the car after school, Gabriel gave him kind of an odd look but didn't say anything. They had almost, almost made it home in peace but then Anna had to go and ask

"What's so special about Dean?" Gabriel turned down the music without looking at her. He sighed silently and rearranged his wings before answering.

"I don't know." Anna sparked immediately.

"Bullshit, don't lie to-" Gabriel interrupted

"No, Anna, I seriously don't know yet. Michael said he'd ask around." Cas spoke up from the back seat. (How did he always end up in the back seat?)

"Ask who? Ask around where?" There was a pause, and suddenly Cas knew. "You can't tell us." Gabriel scowled.

"No, I can't." He parked the car and turned the engine off. The silence grew until it became unbearable for Cas, who climbed out of the car, swinging his backpack onto his shoulder. He took the stairs at a run, throwing his bag onto his bed before pulling off his coat and shirt and studying his wings in the mirror of his closet. They grew naturally out of his back, as they always had. He studied them closely before kneeling and starting to pray, hoping more to find the answers inside himself than expecting some sort of miracle cure.

Heaven of course was not happy to realize one of their angels was starting to doubt his superiors. It was dangerous thoughts for any angel to have, regardless if they knew they were rebelling against heaven or not. They were used to that from Anna, who was in fact an awful choice for such a delicate assignment but had begged for it until Michael had relented. But Castiel...

"He has always loved humanity too much," Uriel argued, trying to get Castiel back home. (Rather, the entity known as Uriel didn't argue so much as convey his beliefs to the entity known as Michael. For the sake of the story, however...) Michael sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Or rather, he did the equivalent for angels, making motions so glorious that humans have the inability to comprehend them.

"I will admit that Dean is an unforeseen complication, but nevertheless, Castiel is too far into it now. Fifteen years on earth has already altered his perception beyond repair, and we might as well continue until the assignment is complete." Uriel grimaced (Or at least he- you know what, just accept that all human words are useless for describing the actions or appearances of angels.) but knew it was fruitless to argue with Micheal. Instead, he whisked himself away, leaving Micheal to sigh once more and prepare to descend to earth to give Dean a little visit.

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**So I was reading all your reviews and I just want to say how awful I feel. Remember, everytime I get one of those emails I feel a twinge of guilt that helps motivate me!**


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